Chapter 86: Divorce

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Opening the script, he began to read it line by line and page by page. Chen Jin read it rather meticulously. He took half an hour to to read a script that was only about 10,000 words. He could not help but smile at certain parts of the story. After reading the last page, he nodded and praised, “Not bad, this script is really not bad at all.”

Shi Xiao Tao wrote a story that not only warmed the heart but was also rather shrewd. The Wa-wah robot had accepted the mission to protect the Earth’s environment. For that purpose, it had entered the home of a family of four. From there, it was a series of stories about Wa-wah, the eldest daughter, Lan Lan, and the youngest son, Ah Bao. Eight year old Lan Lan was a more sensible child. She liked cleanliness and loved Wa-wah. Six year old Ah Bao was a naughty kid. He was mischievous and liked to cause trouble by playing all kinds of pranks. With the arrival of Wa-wah, it became the primary target for Ah Bao’s pranks. He messed around with Wa-wah so much that it started smoking and experienced faults. It almost died.

Wa-wah hated Ah Bao, and was also very frightened of him. It avoided him like the plague. Privately, Wa-wah would frequently deride and gripe about how bad humans were. After which, there were two evil human traffickers who had set their sights on Lan Lan and Ah Bao. When their parents were not at home, they took the opportunity to kidnap them. Then it was Wa-wah robot to the rescue!

Through various thrilling and nerve-wracking battles of wits and courage, Wah-wah successfully rescued Lan Lan and Ah Bao. The evil human traffickers were trounced by Wa-wah and they were punished by the law. Through this process, Lan Lan and Ah Bao discovered that Wa-wah could speak.

After Wa-wah rescued them, the children treated Wa-wah as their best friend. Ah Bao was no longer mischievous or caused trouble. He became a sensible child who liked cleanliness. In order to get Wa-wah to play with him, he even took the initiative to help Wa-wah clean up. A perfect and happy story about a whole family ended at that point.

Shi Xiao Tao expressed that this was only the first part of the movie series. If the first part appealed to a large audience, the following episodes could be built on the foundation of the first part. The story could be extended and a second or even third part could be filmed. There was no need to worry that there would not be sufficient stories for the filming!

Chen Jin nodded. “It seems like you have a thorough understanding of the industrial production model of the successful Hollywood movies. Do you want to become a commercial film director?”

She rolled her eyes. “Isn’t the purpose of making a movie to earn money? What’s a movie if nobody watches it? And what’s a director if he doesn’t earn money from his films? I am a staunch businesswoman! In any case, the movies that I make must be profitable. I won’t do business that gains attention but results in a loss!”

Chen Jin could not help but ask, “How would you win awards like this? For example, the Gold Rooster Awards or the Flowers Film Awards. The award winners are movies that don’t have mass appeal. What would you do if you don’t win an award?” He thought that her way of thinking was rather interesting.

Shi Xiao Tao brandished her little fist. “Why can I only prove myself by winning an award? The praise by the audience shown via the box office sales is the best award! One billion in box office sales means that the movie is not too bad; two billion means that the movie is very good; three billion means that the director is very impressive… I want to be the most impressive director!”

“Hahaha!” Chen Jin was enjoying this. “You have very pragmatic views. I really like it. Actually, my personal idea with regards to the movie ‘Wa-wah robot’ is to film it as a sci-fi movie, within a story about the stars and the seas. But your thoughts are in the right place. From the point of view of the box office performance, it is much better to film it as a whole and happy family movie that would appeal to both the young and old. We would have better box office earnings and it would have the benefit of increasing the popularity of the Wa-wah robot. So, I accept this script of yours. Find a professional screenwriter to do a little modification and it’ll be ok. I can give you the adaptation rights to the film and TV works.”

Hardcore sci-fi movies had a rather small audience in Z country’s mainland. Intense and thrilling action movies, urban comedies, and movies that used a huge amount of special effects were more popular. Shi Xiao Tao’s business insight was quite accurate. With her script, it should be easy to earn two to three billion in box office sales as long as the movie’s production quality was good.

Chen Jin had not given up on the sci-fi movie about Wa-wah. He simply planned to film another sci-fi series in addition to the happy family series. It would be entrusted to a director specializing in making sci-fi movies. Of course, he would not find someone to make that series now. It would happen after the happy family series had become wildly popular.

“Really?!” Shi Xiao Tao was so happy that she bounced up and down in her chair. “This is great, thank you! Thank you, Chief Chen, for giving me this opportunity!” It was unexpected that she could gain this sort of approval and trust as a new prospective director without any works of a significant length under her belt. She was really pleasantly surprised! Of course, her own ability did play a part too.

“Don’t be too happy yet!” Chen Jin said with a wave of his hand, “You’ve only passed the first test. Next, I hope that you’ll do a movie demo using this script. It doesn’t need to be too long. Three minutes is enough. Bring it over for me to take a look. If the demo is good and the quality is of a certain standard, then we can have the possibility of further collaboration.” This was the reason why many directors did not follow up after approaching Chen Jin. It was because his demands were too rigorous. First, he wanted a script, and then a movie demo. They invested millions into their pitch but could not be certain of a getting a chance to collaborate. Who would have the guts to do this sort of thing?

But Shi Xiao Tao had the guts to do it! And she did it with all that she had. From this one could see the charm of this lady… Or rather, one should say that the young had no fear. “Ok! I’ll assemble a team immediately to start working on the movie production. But I hope that you’ll grant me a tiny request.”

“Speak.”

“I want to use the artistic style of the ‘Wa-wah robot’ advertisement series as a reference framework and directly adopt the robot’s image from that series. This would help to reduce the workload in the art studios and speed up the progress of the movie’s production… Chief Chen, if you have the related materials with you, I hope that you can give it to me for reference. It would be very troublesome to re-design everything from scratch; it would cause a two to three months delay.” Shi Xiao Tao was a semi-professional comic artist with a very good foundation in fine arts! But, she knew how tedious and complicated art designing could be, especially for the production of an animated movie. Countless source materials would have to be drafted and rendered. If there was reference that was available, it would help to save a lot of work.

“Ok, no problem. I can give you the source materials for the advertisements!” Chen Jin nodded. He had seen her determination and drive, so he decided to give her a chance to try.

“Thank you Chief Chen, Thank you!” Shi Xiao Tao was overjoyed. Her heart overflowed with excitement. Yay! I’ve done it. I’ll definitely make the movie! And I’ll definitely succeed!

Contract negotiations were completed, and Chen Jin sent her out to the lobby and said that he would send the source materials over to her within the next two days. The two shook hands again, and Shi Xiao Tao left Shang Hai City.

…

In the early afternoon of the 11th of April, Chen Jin came over to Forever Jewels with some urgency. Once he alighted from his car, he immediately ran to the third story. In the lounge, he saw Store Manager Chiu Wan-Ting. With one look at her appearance, Chen Jin was shocked. He could not help but yell in surprise, “Auntie Chiu, you husband beat you into this state?”

Chiu Wan-Ting’s appearance really was appalling. Her nose was bruised and her face was swollen. There was a spot on her cheek that was swollen to a size bigger than a fist. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were dull and listless. Her hands were swathed in gauze. The Store Manager’s uniform was torn in many areas. Countless purple, red, and yellow bruises could be seen on her neck, collar, and legs.

Not only was her looks ruined, her body could also be described as a mass of wounds. Who did it? Of course it was her husband! It happened this morning when her husband seemed to have gone crazy for unknown reasons. After she had finished making breakfast and was preparing to leave for work, he demanded that she clean the house before leaving.

Chiu Wan-Ting said coldly, “The robot is in charge of the cleanliness, I don’t have to clean! Also, for your lunch, you can call for takeaways. I’m not coming back to make lunch.”

“What? You don’t have to clean?” The man rushed towards Wa-wah’s side and kicked it over. Then, he stomped on it crazily. “You don’t have to clean! You don’t have to clean!” In a few moments, the robots was stomped to pieces.

Chiu Wan-Ting immediately threw a random item with great force at him. “Huang You De, are you insane?!”

He walked over with red eyes, looking as if he was a mad beast. “Don’t go to work anymore! Stay at home, and do the honest work of cleaning and cooking!”

Slap!

Chiu Wan-Ting delivered a smack with her palm.

Bam bam bam bam!

The two started to scuffle.

She managed to escape from the fight and came to to the shop looking like she did.

…

Chen Jin brandished his fist and said, “Auntie Chiu, you can’t tolerate this anymore. That man is a coward and a good-for-nothing! Other than finding the meaning of his existence by making life difficult for you, he’s just a useless bum! Today he’s violent towards you; tomorrow he may want your life! I think you should cut your losses. For your own safety, you have leave that shit far away; you have to divorce him!” A vein throbbed in his forehead. Chen Jin had never felt so angry in his life.

“Yes! Chief Chen is right. Store Manager, you have to divorce him!”

“According to the anti-domestic violence law, you can unilaterally file for divorce. He has no choice but to agree. The law will also support you!”

“Yes, you were beaten into this state, this definitely counts as severe domestic violence!”

The staff were persuading and advising in droves; their voices overlapping.

Looking at the wounded and exhausted Store Manager, Guo Yan started to cry. Guo Yan held her hand and advised her as she cried, “Manager, cherish your life and leave this scum far, far away! We women have to learn how to protect ourselves!”

Chiu Wan-Ting slowly nodded and groaned out, “Yeah…” From within her listless gaze came a firm look that was brimming with energy.

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